Jongno-gu Mayor Kim Young-jong's 'Urban Emptying Project' ... Approximately 700 Million Won Budget Savings

Jongno-gu Dedicates Efforts to 'Urban Clearing Project' Removing, Integrating, and Organizing Unsightly or Unnecessary Urban Facilities; Achieved About 28,000 Clearings and 700 Million KRW Budget Savings Over 8 Years... Since Last Year, Expanded Concept to 'Tidying Up' Including Rust Removal and Creating Resident Rest Areas on Vacant Lots... Actively Reviewing and Minimizing New Facilities This Year to Improve Pedestrian Safety

[Asia Economy Reporter Jongil Park] Jongno-gu (District Mayor Kim Young-jong) has been evolving its "Urban Clearing Project," which has been underway since 2013 with the goal of creating a safe and happy healthy city.

Urban clearing is a representative environmental maintenance project of Jongno-gu that involves "clearing" by demolishing unnecessary or non-functional urban facilities, "reducing" by consolidating facilities with similar functions, "organizing" by maintaining and repairing aged, corroded, or damaged facilities, and "pre-clearing" by minimally and optimally installing new facilities.

The district has prioritized this project and worked to create pedestrian-first, people-centered streets. Over the past eight years, the urban clearing project has been implemented with a total of 28,237 cases (5,721 clearings, 286 reductions, 22,230 organizations), achieving a budget saving effect of approximately 700 million KRW.

Since 2020, the concept of urban clearing has been expanded to include "tidying up," focusing on removing rust from facilities on major local streets such as Sejong-daero and transforming long-neglected vacant lots into resting areas for residents.

Last year, through a Seoul city contest, the "Jahamun-ro to Changuimun-gil Urban Clearing Project" was carried out. As a result, over 30 facilities across six locations were relocated, demolished, or consolidated, reducing the number of streetlights and traffic signals from 10 to 5.

This year, the plan is to minimize newly installed facilities through prior review and focus on tidying up by repainting facilities damaged by rust or graffiti.

Facilities that have lost their original function or hinder pedestrian safety, such as abandoned utility poles, will also be actively maintained.

Additionally, as part of urban clearing, the district will further promote projects such as village landscape improvement, alleyway regeneration, creating streets with beautiful signboards, and maintenance of neglected streetlight banner stands.

District Mayor Kim Young-jong stated, "We are the only autonomous district in Seoul operating a dedicated urban clearing team, establishing a legal foundation through related ordinances, and leading the urban clearing project." He added, "Building on eight years of experience, we plan to devote ourselves this year as well to clearing, reducing, and organizing urban facilities."

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.